There are two types of strokes; ischemia and hemorrhage. The more common stroke is the ischemia which is an obstruction of a blood clot in an artery. Hemorrhage stroke is when an artery completely ruptures. There are many problems that come along with having a stroke such as edema, neurons dying, and an impaired sodium-potassium pump.
One of the main issues with ischemia stroke is the excess amount of the transmitter glutamate. Releasing a large amount of glutamate causes brain cells to die. There have been several studies as to how to prevent more damage to the brain after a stroke has occurred.
One study involves a famous plant, cannabis, to be a candidate to help alleviate pain, inflammation, and to stop the flow of glutamate after an ischemia stroke. Since us humans, and animals, indeed have a receptor for the only active compound, out of ten compounds found in cannabis, known as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) there is a possibility that this plant can help in some way to dissolve the pain or pressure after a stroke. It has been found in laboratory animals that cannabinoids do alter brain activity and can protect against damage. I really do not see a difference on how it can affect humans just as it affects these lab animals.
The article I found about the role of cannabinoids after an ischemia stroke goes more into detail on how exactly the compounds of this plant work together with the brain receptors and the various positive outcomes that may follow.
I agree that there is no difference in the effects cannabinoids has on humans. Since both humans and animals have a receptor for THC, then cannabinoids should affect humans as it does to lab animals. I guess that there are other physiological factors that take place that might alter the effects.
ReplyDeleteI think there should be an alternative drug or placebo instead of using cannibis but noone has bothered doing the research. This goes back to the arguement whether the drug should be legalize or not. I believe using the drug on animals is a little more extreme than using on human beings.
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